Washoe County School District Police Chief Mike Mieras speaks at the press briefing for Sparks Middle School shooting on Oct. 21. 2013. / Andy Barron/RGJ

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A survey of Nevada high school students released in February suggests Washoe County students are at greater risk from violence than Clark County students.

Officials with both Washoe County and Clark County school districts acknowledged they had no specific explanations for Washoe County having higher reported rates of violence and weapons at schools.

One thing that could explain the difference is Clark County’s decision to put two police officers in every high school. The Washoe County School District only has one.

“Supervision is a best practice prevention strategy,” Katherine Loudon, head of counseling for the Washoe County School District, said of the addition of police officers. “Not only police officers, but to have adults assigned to supervision.”

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The Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health released its 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey in February. The survey of high school students is done every two years and is part of a nationwide effort coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It tries to assess six risk areas that cause death and disease among youth.

In the survey results, Washoe County topped Clark County in students who fought on school property, were in a fight anywhere, students who were threatened or injured on school property, who were bullied on school property and who were afraid to go to school. Washoe County had almost double the percentage of students injured in a fight and more than double the students who carried a weapon on school property.

With 38 sworn officers working as school police, Washoe County has about 1,658 students for every police officer, a better ratio than 1,890 students for every Clark County school police officer.

However, Clark has more officers per high school. Clark County school police Capt. Ken Young said that in the late 1980s, at the height of a gang problem, his school district decided to assign two officers to each high school, often supplemented by other officers.

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Those officers have input on safety measures and work with deans, teachers and anyone else directly tied to the school, Young said.

Over the years, they saw a decline in crime.

There have been other efforts, including a school violence initiative and another program to encourage people to talk to officers or make anonymous tips.

Mike Mieras, chief of the Washoe County School District police, said his district is doing a global review of its violence policies. Assigning a second officer to high schools is something the district could decide to do.

“It is hard to puts stats on officer presence, but officer presence is a huge deterrence for crimes,” Mieras said.

Mieras said his department takes a proactive approach. Like Clark County, the school district has a special Secret Witness number to report school incidents. The officers assigned to school are also building rapport with school administrators, teachers and students.

Loudon noted that the survey sample may have skewed the results. In Clark County, the students could take the survey only after getting their parents to sign off.

“I’m not saying they’re looking over their kids’ shoulders (as they fill out the survey), but some of the population, if they’re not able to work with the parents to get a signed form, they are not taking part in the survey,” Loudon said.

She has been working on the surveys since 1999. Students who report having access to weapons could be explained by more Washoe County students being involved with hunting.

“We’ve always had a trend where our students have more access to weapons than our counterparts in Clark County,” Loudon said.

But she acknowledged the survey also shows more Washoe County students brought weapons to school.

Still, she called the survey useful.

“I think every town in Nevada should be looking at the behavioral risk survey as something that is an indicator of health factors,” Loudon said.